EU Eyes UN-Backed Syria Conference in Brussels in April

Russian forces outside the city of Palmyra in Homs, Syria, No available, photo: AP/Hassan Ammar

BRUSSELS – The European Union wants to host a conference on the future of Syria this spring and is hoping that it can focus on rebuilding the war-torn country.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday that the preferred date for the meeting, to be held in tandem with the United Nations, would be in April.

Mogherini said that the conference would come after the planned restart of the Geneva peace talks and “could be a moment for the international community to turn the page and start the reconstruction of Syria.”

The conference, to be held in Brussels, would also take stock of whether international donors are respecting their pledges to Syria.